Savoury food compositions contain in many cases fat. This is especially the case for particulate and/or pasty compositions, which are often dry. Dry in this context is to be understood as comprising less than 15% (wt), preferably less than 10% (wt) of water. Particulate in this context is to be understood as powder, flakes, cubes, pellets etcetera. Examples of such products are e.g. bouillon cubes, culinary cubes, soup- and sauce mixes, etcetera.
The fats in such savoury compositions usually comprise a considerable amount triglycerides of fatty acids (hereinafter for short: triglycerides). Fats are usually mixtures of various triglycerides. The type of fat or fat blend used for a given purpose is determined (next to availability and price) by e.g. the properties the fat has and how it performs in a given product, and in the manufacture of such product. The fat should perform well on e.g. taste, melting in the mouth, taste keepability, but also on ability to be processed into a suitable product as well as performance in the packed product, e.g. keepability (in particular fat staining for cubes packaged in cardboard).
The triglycerides (which form part or all of the fat) are usually obtained from vegetable sources and may have been subjected to various treatments, such as fractionation (dry or wet), purification, hardening, interesterification, blending etcetera, to give the fat the desired product properties. Hardening unsaturated fat or triglycerides to saturated or partially unsaturated fat or triglycerides is in particular a tool used to obtain the desired melting behaviour. In this way, oils or soft fats can be turned into fats showing more suitable properties for solid or dry formulations.
The hardening process may lead to formation of a certain amount of so-called trans-unsaturated fatty acids (and/or triglycerides of such trans-unsaturated fatty acids), in short TFA's. For various reasons it may be desired to reduce or eliminate the amount of trans-unsaturated fatty acids (and triglycerides thereof) in products. For spreads (margerines and the like) a wide range of possible alternative fats and triglycerides are proposed, as is disclosed in e.g. WO 97/16978 and WO 96/39855.
The triglycerides mentioned in such applications frequently contain lauric acid (C12 saturated fatty acid). It has been found that when one wishes to find an alternative for the trans-unsaturated fatty acids (and fats containing them) in savoury applications lauric acid is undesired. Lauric acid and triglycerides containing lauric acid may show a range of desirable properties, in particular melting behaviour, but in a savoury application triglycerides of lauric acid were found to lead to a (soapy) off-flavour, especially after prolonged storage.
Hence, there is a desire for dry and/or particulate savoury products which contain triglyceride fats which are low in trans-unsaturated fatty acids (e.g. below 5% of the total fats present, preferably less than 2%), but which still should perform well in a savoury composition, in particular concerning processability, fat staining, crystallisation, mouth feel, and other characteristics as mentioned above. Preferably, such product should also be low in lauric acid or triglycerides thereof (e.g. below 10% of the total fats present, preferably less than 3%, most preferably less than 0.5% wt of the total fats present).
Triglyceride fats can be grouped according to the fatty acids of which they consist (i.e. the acyl moiety of triacyl glycerides). Such groups can be identified by a letter, and herein:
H means saturated fatty acid of 16 carbon atoms or longer (C16+, e.g. up to C24)
U means unsaturated fatty acids in cis conformation (any chain length)
E means unsaturated fatty acids in trans conformation (any chain length)
M means saturated fatty acids of 10-14 carbon atoms (C10-C14)
As the present application is about triglycerides of such fatty acids, the fatty acid composition of the triglycerides is given by for example:
H3 (meaning a triglyceride of 3 saturated fatty acids of 16 or more carbon atoms)
H2E (meaning a triglyceride of 2 saturated fatty acids of 16 or more carbon atoms and 1 trans-unsaturated fatty acid)
H2M (meaning a triglyceride of 2 saturated fatty acids of 16 or more carbon atoms and 1 saturated fatty acid of 10-14 carbon atoms)
H2U (meaning a triglyceride of 2 saturated fatty acids of 16 or more carbon atoms and 1 cis-unsaturated fatty acid)
HE2 (meaning a triglyceride of 1 saturated fatty acid of 16 or more carbon atoms and 2 trans-unsaturated fatty acids), and so on for other 3 letter codes.
Fat compositions can thus be characterised in containing certain weight percentages (based on the total amount of triglycerides) of triglycerides of the above codes.
Although it is mentioned for E and U that they may have any length, it is to be understood that this relates to fatty acids of approx. 8-24 carbon atoms, and more usually 16-20 carbon atoms. U.S. Pat. No. 5,718,938 discloses manufacturing a batter, a dough, and bakery products such as cookies and cakes with lower than normal SAFA (saturated and trans fatty acid residues).
WO 94/16572 discloses manufacturing a (homogeneous) puff-pastry margerine containing at least 60% fat, the fat being free of trans fatty acids.